Patrick Goldstein cites that the (rotten) Rotten Tomato rating for 'The Last Airbender' has taken a huge leap for the better. In fact, it's improved some 50%, going from 6 to 9 in just a couple days.
On the flipside (there's always a catch), fans are giving the flick a grade of C, according to CinemaScore.
With a production budget of $150m and a marketing expenditure of $100m (!!!!!), prospects of profitability for 'The Last Airbender' are tenuous at best.
If (hypothetically) TLA takes a dive, I wonder how many more chances a certain filmmaker will be given. This (particular guy) has been smushed (flattened, crushed, shot down in flames) by critics every time he's released a movie (excepting one major success). Each subsequent movie from (this certain guy) rates worse than the one that came before. Audience reaction gets worse each time, too. Exponentially so. It's gotten so bad now the public laughs when they hear that (this guy) is planning to shoot another movie, as opposed to waiting to actually view the finished product before leveling their derision. When plot details of (this guy's) next movie leak, eye-rolling and head-shaking ensue. (This guy) is becoming synonymous with cinematic silliness. His name may well become associated with poor screenwriting technique in schools which teach the art. This (particular) moviemaker's name is becoming a punchline.
It's an odd situation. His movies get worse, make less at the box office, and draw more and more massive fire from bloggers and critics, then are giggled at by the public for months, and years after their release. Yet, (this guy) not only continues to work, but the budgets for his products get bigger and bigger.
And, $100m of that went for marketing? Does Paramount think that spending an outrageously huge sum on advertising will nullify the poor quality of a given movie? I mean, if you made a movie that was nothing but 90 minutes of footage of a brick wall, would the marketing guys at Paramount propose spending, oh, I don't know, say, A BILLION DOLLARS!!!! on advertising in order to lure an audience substantial enough to guarantee profitability? Would $1,000,000,000 buy enough ads to convince people to see a feature film about a brick wall? I mean, if there's enough buzz...right? Might as well see the damn thing.
If $100,000,000 worth of ads snags an audience large enough to make 'The Last Airbender' profitable, then a billion dollars worth of ads might get enough people into theaters to make 'The Last Brick Wall' a hit.
Just an idea. I'm looking forward to seeing how this will play.
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